1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector which is capable of carrying out the engagement and disengagement between a male connector housing and a female connector housing with small manipulating force.
2. Description of the Related Art
This kind of connector is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (kokai) No. 6-325822, as shown in FIGS. 1A to 3. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a connector 1 comprises a male connector housing 2 and a female connector housing 6. The male connector housing 2 is provided, on both side faces thereof, with a pair of pivot shafts 2a on which a lever 3 is rotatably mounted. As shown in FIG. 1B, through the intermediary of a bracket 4, the male connector housing 2 is also mounted on a panel body 5 so as to move relatively to the bracket 4 in front and behind.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the female connector housing 6 is provided, on both side faces thereof, with projections 6a for engagement and projections 6b for disengagement. The lever 3 includes a pair of arm portions 3a, 3a each of which is assembled so as to slidably extend between the projection 6a and the projection 6b on each side face of the female connector housing 6. The female connector housing 6 has a hood portion 6c formed for engagement with the male connector housing 2.
Provided on the underside of the female connector housing 6 is a rail portion 9 which carries a slider 8 movably in the front and behind. The slider 8 is fixed to a tip of a screw member 7. The slider 8 is also provided with a recess portion 8a into which a rod-shaped butting portion 3b is being accommodated.
In operation, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotation of the screw member 7 allows the lever 3 to pivot in front and in the rear of both connector housings 2, 6, so that the engagement and disengagement therebetween can be accomplished with small manipulation force, by the leverage (magnifying arrangement) of the lever 3 through the projections 6a, 6b. Note, the similar art in relation with the above-mentioned connector 1 is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,329 etc.
In the above-mentioned conventional connector 1, however, it has a problem of being large-sized due to the action of the lever 3. Additionally, the connector 1 requires the screw member 7 to be rotated by means of a driver tool, or the like and therefore, the engagement/disengagement operation between the male and female connector housings 2, 6 is complicated and troublesome.